Stitzer-Weller making bourbon again

I'll reserve judgement until I'm able to sip on the goods - the proof is in the pudding so to speak. In the meantime, I am very excited for American whiskey that a storied distillery like SW is being resurrected and hopefully Diageo will be faithful caretakers of that legacy.

Re: Stitzer-Weller making bourbon again

Re: Stitzer-Weller making bourbon again

What great news to wake up to on a Sunday morning. I'll echo what others have said, that this is exciting news but that ultimately judgement is reserved for the first pour of the new SW juice x years from now.

One question I have now, given the nature of whiskey aging, is whether they are distilling new juice to be aged and released in 2015/2016 and beyond or if they are going to follow what I have heard happened with Jefferson Presidential in the last few years where they took some of the SW stock and mixed it with other wheated bourbon like Bernheim to make up for stock shortages. That said, I don't think if they are going for a wheated profile they would be able to use Bulliet (FR) stock so it begs the questions of where they could get stock to mix in with new SW juice (that is if you assume they keep SW as a wheated bourbon like its famous for and not change the mashbill around).

Either way, exciting news that will start lots of conversations about whiskey in 2013.

Re: Stitzer-Weller making bourbon again

When I toured the distillery a while back, we were told (by the security guard) that the original still was in place and in good shape. We didn't get a chance to see for ourselves.

From the outside, the physical plant looked in rough shape (see the pictures I posted here). Given the age of the facility I suspect (as others have also said) that asbestos abatement will be a major issue.

It is good news that a major distillery will be brought back into production.

However, whatever they produce will likely not be comparable to the old SW juice. And, I'm guessing, any aged stock they have in the riskhouses is either: 1) over-aged and awful SW distillate; or 2) Bulleit (e.g., 4R) barrels.

John B

"Drinking when we are not thirsty and making love at all seasons… that is all there is to distinguish us from other animals."

Re: Stitzer-Weller making bourbon again

I agree that this is good news, but caution that we know almost nothing at this point. Will they use any of the original equipment? Will they make wheated bourbon? When will production begin? We have no idea. Remember, Diageo owns none of the brands that used to be made there. They probably can't even use the name Stitzel-Weller as a brand. If they do make wheated bourbon, they'll be starting from scratch with a new brand.

Will they make Bulleit there? Seems reasonable, but we just don't know. Will they bring I. W. Harper back to the U.S.? Maybe, but it was never made at Stitzel-Weller. They have already invested a significant amount to make the old office building The Bulleit Bourbon Expeience. That suggests Bulleit will be the main emphasis of whatever they do there.

So we can speculate, we can guess, but we have almost no facts. And regardless of the plan, it will be years before any bourbon made there is ready to sell.

We do know one thing, though. They have a master distiller. Last year, John Lunn added responsibility for operations as Stitzel-Weller to his job as George Dickel master distiller. He told me in October that they do both maturation and blending there for various Diageo brands. It didn't seem very important at the time, but now?

And speaking of RSS feeds, Aaron Swartz, who wrote an early version of RSS, committed suicide yesterday.